[Endoscopic neodymium-yag laser irradiation for control of bleeding acute and chronic ulcers (author's transl)].

The essential problem of acute gastrointestinal bleeding is hemorrhagic shock. Using a high-power Nd-Yag laser, transmitted endoscopically by Dr. Nath's triconic quartz fiber, it was possible to occlude massive arterial bleeding ulcers immediately after endoscopic localization. Of 202 bleeding ulcers in the upper gastrointestinal tract, 193 = 96% could be stopped. The mortality rate was reduced in bleeding acute ulcers from 58% to 36% and in bleeding chronic ulcers from 21% to 5.1%.